Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Has $285.86 Million Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,899,271 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,962 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ross Stores were worth $285,859,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 1.9% in the third quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 3,986 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 4.0% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,197 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its position in shares of Ross Stores by 5.2% during the third quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 1,735 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 2.4% during the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,673 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kintegral Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ross Stores by 3.0% during the second quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 2,943 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.86% of the company’s stock.

Ross Stores Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ROST opened at $146.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.47 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ross Stores, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $127.53 and a fifty-two week high of $163.60. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $145.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $144.53.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $5.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.15 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.95% and a return on equity of 42.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.3675 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $1.47 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Michael J. Hartshorn sold 8,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.64, for a total value of $1,302,084.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,049 shares in the company, valued at $16,038,546.36. This represents a 7.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Michael Balmuth sold 14,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $152.22, for a total transaction of $2,266,099.14. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 11,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,665.26. The trade was a 57.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 72,138 shares of company stock valued at $11,093,051 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ROST shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ross Stores from $147.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ross Stores from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup cut Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $179.00 to $152.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ross Stores from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ross Stores from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.69.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.